Collapsible support for a receptacle

ABSTRACT

A collapsible support such as for instance, a disposable refuse container, is constructed of oppositely disposed upper and lower frame members pivotally hinged to both ends of a pair of spacer bars one of which is stationary with respect to said frame members and the other one is movable along said frame members to thereby permit said frame members to collapse in a flat position relative to said spacer bars for storage and transport of the receptacle support.

United States Patent Safford 1 Apr. 25, 1972 COLLAPSIBLE SUPPORT FOR ARECEPTACLE [72] Inventor: Earl A. Safi'ord, 1958 Lawrence Avenue,

Detroit, Mich. 48206 [22] Filed: May 22,1970

[21] Appl.No.: 39,698

1,052,379 2/1913 Ranken ..248/97 X 3,468,505 9/1969 Reilly .,2l l/84 X2,942,750 6/1960 Neely ..248/l75 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS247,229 5/1966 Austria ..248/97 Primary Examiner-Chancellor E. HarrisAttorney-Cullen, Settle, Sloman & Cantor [57] ABSTRACT A collapsiblesupport such as for instance, a disposable refuse container, isconstructed of oppositely disposed upper and lower frame memberspivotally hinged to both ends of a pair of spacer bars one of which isstationary with respect to said frame members and the other one ismovable along said frame members to thereby permit said frame members tocollapse in a flat position relative to said spacer bars for storage andtransport of the receptacle support.

1 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 5/ I INVENTOR FIG-6 EARL A. SAFFORD.

ATTORNEYS 1 COLLAPSIBLE SUPPORT FOR A RECEPTACLE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The present invention refers to supports for containers,receptacles and the like and more in particular to a collapsible supportfor a refuse receptacle, such as for instance, a disposable garbage bag.

Refuse receptacles commonly consist of solid containers made of sheetmetal or plastic and generally stored outside a building for deposit ofrefuse therein. These containers, when emptied, become dented andotherwise damaged to the point that their use is limited to a shortperiod of time. In'addition, if these containers are not protectedagainst atmospheric surroundings, particularly in regard to metalcontainers, they will rustfand their usefulness will be cut short,requiring more frequent replacement.

In order to eliminate or reduce the above disadvantages of conventionalrefuse containers, the present invention contemplates the provision of acollapsible support for disposable refuse containers, such as plasticgarbage or refuse bags.-

The proposed receptacle support, according to the present invention,comprises an open frame work composed of an upper frame member and alower frame member separated and connected together by a pair of spacerbars adapted to retain the frame members in a position to receive areceptacle, such as a bag, which upper edge can be draped around theupper frame member to support the receptacle within the frame work.

Selectively, a solid bottom can be provided for the lower frame memberand a solid cover for the removable attachment to the upper frame memberto protectthe receptacle against atmospheric surroundings. The solidbottom, if provided, can be equipped with caster wheels so as to enablethe receptacle support to be rolled around a ground surface. Likewise,the. cover, is provided, can be hin'gely attached to the framework ofthe receptacle support to permit easy opening and access to thereceptacle retained by the support.

The primary feature of the present invention resides in the provision ofa frame work for a receptacle supportwhich is constructed such as to becollapsible into -a flat position when not in use for storage ortransport to another location.

Other features and advantages of the presentinventionwill become morereadily apparent or be particularly po'intedout by reference to thefollowing detailed description inconnection with the appended drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION-OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. Sis an enlarged cross-sectionthrough the top section of the receptacle support shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detailed viewof the construction and arrangementof the frame work of the basic receptacle support illustrated in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to FIGS. 1and '6', the collapsible receptacle support of the present invention iscomprised of a frame work generally indicated at 10 composed of a lowerframe member 12 and an identical upper frame member spaced apart by apair of spacer bars or rods 16 and 18, respectively.

The spacer bars 16 and 18 when in a position as shown in FIG. I, retainthe lower frame member 12 and upper frame member 14 in parallelhorizontal relationship relative to each other when the lower framemember 12 is supported on a surface, to permit the insertion and supportof a receptacle, such as a disposable garbage bag 20, indicated indot-and-dash lines, which extends through the upper frame member 14downwardly towards the lower frame member 12 and which upper edge may becrimped over around the upper frame member 14 for support of thereceptacle within the frame work.

Both upper and lower frame members 12 and 14 are prefer rably of ringlike structure fabricated from a length of steel or plastic rod andwelded together to form a ring. The spacer bar 16 is preferrablyfabricated from the same rod like material as the frame members 12 and14 and is provided at both its ends with eyes 15 and 17 respectivelywhich slidingly engage the frame members 12 and I4 for circumferentialmovement of the spacer bar 16 around the frame members 12 and 14 and forpivotal movement of the frame members 12 and 14 relative to the spacerbar 16.

The opposite spacer bar 18 is of substantially identical structure,comprising eyes 19 and 21 at the ends thereof which pivotally engage theframe members 12 and 14. The spacer bar 18, however, is restrainedagainst circumferential move ment around the frame members 12 and 14 bymeans of braces 22 and 24, respectively, welded or otherwise secured tothe frame members 12 and 14 to clamp the eyes of the spacer bar 18 inbetween them.

Thus, the spacer bar 18 is prevented against circumferential movementalong the frame members 12 and 14 but does not prevent pivotal'movementof the frame members 12 and 14 relative thereto.

With particular reference to FIG. 6, in order to collapse the receptaclesupport 10 into a flat inoperative position, the

movable spacer bar 16 is circumferentially moved in either directionalong the frame members 12 and 14 towards the stationary spacer bar 18and positioned adjacent thereto, which permits the frame members 12 and14 to be swung in opposite directions due to the pivotal connection ofthe spacer bars into substantial parallel alignment with the spacer barsso as to provide a substantially flat structure which can be easilystored or hung on the wall, requiring aminimum of space.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the collapsible receptacle support 10 of FIG. 1can be selectively provided with a cover 26 which may have a handle 28to facilitate removal of the cover from the receptacle support. Thecover 26 is supported on top of the upper frame member 14 and has ashape such as to conform with the upper frame member 14 and which placedin position, protects the refuse receptacle 20 from above. If desired,the cover 26 could be hinged, as shown at 30, tothe frame work of thereceptacle support 10 preferrably at the upper'brace 22 which is weldedto the upper frame member .frame member 12 for securement thereto bysimilar spring clips 34 as shown in the attachment for the cover 32.Selectively, the bottom 36 may be provided with caster wheels 38 tofacilitate movement of the receptacle support from one location toanotherf From the foregoing description it will be evident, that thepresent invention provides a relatively simple and inexpensivecollapsible support for a receptacle, particularly for refusereceptacles, such as disposable garbage bags and the like, which is notsubject to damage when being emptied. Damage by corrosion clue toexposure to the atmosphere will be minimal and can be neglected if itoccurs. Wear and corrosion resistance will be considerably increased ifthe frame work for the-receptacle-support is being fabricated fromplastic rods.

Although the present invention has been described with reference toseveral preferred embodiments, it will be obvious to the men skilled inthe art to which the invention pertains, that structural changes andvariations may be made therein without departing from the spirit andessential characteristic of the invention as defined by the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A collapsible support for a disposable receptacle comprising: a pairof identical frame members; a pair of parallel spaced spacer barspivotally connecting said frame members to maintain said frame membersin spaced parallel relationship; one of said pair of spacer bars beinglocked to both of said frame members against movement circumferentiallythereof, the other of said spacer bars being movable circumferentiallyaround said frame members towards or away from said locked spacer bar;said collapsible support, in operative position, being adapted toreceive and support a disposable receptacle when said pair of spacerbars are separated from each other a distance sufficient to maintainsaid pair of frame members in a horizontally aligned parallelrelationship; said pair of frame members in operative position of saidcollapsible support designating an upper frame member and a lower framemember for support on a surface; a bottom plate substantiallycorresponding in shape to the shape of said lower frame member andmounted thereon; a plurality of spring clips on said bottom plateremovably attached to said lower frame member; caster wheels on saidbottom plate for rolling movement of said collapsible support along saidsurface; and a cover mounted on said upper frame member for closing saidreceptacle; and a plurality of spring clips on said cover and removablyattached to said upper frame member; said collapsible support beingadapted to be collapsed into a flat position for storage when saidmovable spacer bar is moved into position adjacent said locked spacerbar to thereby permit said frame members to swing away from each otherinto substantial longitudinal alignment with said spacer bars.

